A disgruntled data analyst decides that the best response to losing his contract is to steal the entire company payroll database and demand $2.5 million in Bitcoin - signing his extortion emails from a company called "Loot." Meanwhile, two people drive up to the entrance of the UK's nuclear submarine base at Faslane and politely...
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In episode 459 of Smashing Security, we dive into a chillingly clever account takeover attempt targeting WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg - involving MFA fatigue, real Apple alerts, a convincing support call, and a phishing page that oh-so-nearly worked. If a famous techie could have this happen to you, can you be sure you're immune? Plus:...
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A Wikipedia security engineer accidentally wakes a dormant JavaScript worm that hadn't stirred since 2024 - and within minutes, giant woodpecker images are plastered across the internet's favourite encyclopaedia. Meanwhile, a crypto contractor hired to help the US Marshals manage seized digital assets allegedly decides to help himself to $46 million of it - and...
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When a top cybersecurity firm discovered it had a leak, you would expect the FBI to be called. Instead, the person put in charge of the investigation was the actual leaker... who promptly sent an innocent colleague into a career-ending ambush. In this episode, we unravel the jaw-dropping tale of a defence contractor caught selling...
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When the mysterious operator of an internet archiving-service decided to silence a curious Finnish blogger, they didn’t just send a stroppy email - they allegedly weaponised their own CAPTCHA page to launch a DDoS attack, threatened to invent an entirely new genre of AI porn, and tampered with parts of their own archive to smear...
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Could America turn off Europe's internet? That’s one of the questions that Graham and special guest James Ball will be exploring as they discuss tech sovereignty. Could Gmail, cloud services, and critical infrastructure really become geopolitical leverage? And is anyone actually building a Plan B? Plus we explore if Meta is quietly plotting to turn its...
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AI bots are having existential crises, inventing religions, and allegedly plotting against humanity... or so the internet would have you believe. We dig into Moltbook, the “AI-only” social network that sent Twitter into a meltdown, attracted breathless talk of the singularity, and turned out to be far less Terminator and far more humans role-playing as...
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Supposedly redacted Jeffrey Epstein files can still reveal exactly who they’re talking about - especially when AI, LinkedIn, and a few biographical breadcrumbs do the heavy lifting. Sloppy redaction leads to explosive claims, and difficult reputational consequences for cybersecurity vendors, and we learn how trust - once cracked - can be almost impossible to fully...
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In episode 452, a London-based YouTuber wins a landmark court case against Saudi Arabia after his phone was hacked with Pegasus spyware — exposing how a single, seemingly harmless text message can turn a smartphone into a round-the-clock surveillance device. Plus, we go looking for professional hitmen online - only to uncover uncomfortable questions about...
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In episode 451 of "Smashing Security," we meet the cybercriminal who hacked the US Supreme Court, Veterans Affairs, and more - and then helpfully posted screenshots (and even someone’s blood type) on an account called "I hacked the government." Plus we discuss how researchers uncovered a creepy flaw that lets attackers hijack wireless headphones, listen...
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